Humbler than a Blade of Grass

Journal 'The Harmonist'
Edited by
Shrila Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati Thakur

(No. 7, Vol. XXV, December 1927)

THE samkirtan of Hari has been declared by Shri Gaursundar as the only method, as well as the goal, in regard to the attainment of the highest good by jivas in this Kali Age. By the chanting of the Holy Name the highest object of the human life, viz. love for Krishna, is gained. The following shloka enshrines the words spoken by the Lord Himself laying down the conditions to be fulfilled if the Holy Name is to be chanted in the manner that is free from offence:

trinad api sunichena taror api sahishnuna
amanina manadena kirtaniyah sada harih

(Shikshashtakam, verse 3) ¹

In the above shloka we are instructed to perform the kirtan of Hari by being infinitely more humble than a blade of grass, by exercising patience greater than that of the tree, by not desiring honor for ourselves and by honoring all other jivas realizing that they are the eternal servants of Krishna. It is necessary to practice at one and the same time the quality of humility and that of honoring all. There is no room for self-contradiction in those words of the Godhead. The practice of either quality cannot be incompatible with the fullest observance of the other.
All jivas, whether they are aware of it or not, are the servants of Krishna. The service of Krishna is the eternal function of the jiva -soul. The consciousness regarding this eternal Truth is aroused the instant the jiva throws himself unreservedly on the protection of the true devotee of God, such decision being itself the result of the jiva having previously served God and His devotees although he could not, till then, have done so consciously. The more closely one holds to the feet of the good preceptor, the more clearly is this relationship of the jiva with Krishna realized — and in proportion to the degree of such realization the mental and physical associations lose their force. All jivas are found to be really one’s kin in the highest sense as soon as one realizes the service of Krishna to be the eternal function of the soul. There is no object that can then be considered as beneath one’s notice by such a person.
Lord Nityananda, who is all-in-all to the Gaudiya, in as much as he practiced the principles that he taught, could not therefore, ignore the spiritual nature of such evil-conditioned, forsaken drunkards and robbers as Jagaj and Madhai. The world-teacher Nityananda was fully aware of their tastes and nature in the state of bondage as also the fact that they were universally held by the people of Nabadvip as out-casts and utterly worthless. But the greatest of the kind-hearted did not, for those reasons, over-look their eternal natures as the servants of Krishna although showing the highest kindness in ignoring the tastes and nature of their state of bond-age in the fetters of the illusory energy of God. As everyone of the jivas with, out exception is the servant of Krishna and entitled to His service Prabhu Nityananda established Jagai and Madhai in the condition that is natural for the jiva by bestowing on them the necessary fitness accruing from listening to the unalloyed kirtan of Hari and association with the devotees of God. There-after Jagai and Madhai continued to live at Nabadvip as the saviors of the world having become the devotees of God. This famous event undoubtedly constitutes the most striking instance of the manifestation of the quality of honoring the eternal and true nature of the jiva on the part of the greatest of all preceptors. The act is also at the same time in every way consistent with the functions of humility greater than that of the blade of grass, of patience greater than that of the tree, without the least self-contradiction.
Whatever may be the depth of humiliation in which jiva chooses to abide by being fettered with the functions, of the body and the mind, a servant of the Guru is ever prepared to honor the qualities of his soul, aware that he is the eternal servant of Krishna and perfectly pure in his own proper nature.
The nature and function of the soul are beyond the reach of the mind and speech of the fallen jiva. Therefore, desiring the eternal good of the jiva God has himself caused the manifestation to jiva of the eternal truths regarding the nature of the world, of God, their mutual relation etc., in the Scriptures such as Shri Veda, Shri Geeta, Shri Bhagabat etc., and, by means of His worthy agents who have been endowed by Himself with the Divine power for the purpose, in such devotional works as Shri Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu, Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita, etc., this knowledge of relationship has been made available to the servant of the Guru in the chain of unbroken spiritual succession by the grace of the Divine Master Himself. When the jiva, bewitched by the illusory energy of God, stuck fast in the qualities of the body and the mind, by disobeying the words of God and the Scriptures endeavors to bring down ruin and destruction upon himself and others by simulating the kirtan of Hari so as to accord with the tastes and nature of his and their bound state, the servant of the Guru can no longer remain passive in the face of such fatal endeavor for effecting the destruction of the performer of such kirtan and of the hearers all of them being his dearest and nearest kin in the true sense. Fearlessly and without complaint enduring hundreds and thousands of dangers and obstacles thereby manifesting patience greater than that of the tree, discarding all personal honor or dishonor and conceit thus practicing humility which is greater than that of a blade of grass, without coveting any honor for himself and at the same time fully honoring others by evincing the highest regard for the pure and eternal nature of the fallen jiva, in all his endeavors being actuated by the desire for the promotion of the highest good of himself and of all bound jivas, the servant of the Guru undertakes the practice and preaching of the unalloyed kirtan of Hari in conformity with the injunctions of God and the scriptures the knowledge of which he has received by submission to the lotus feet of the Divine Preceptor. If in consequence of such endeavor on his part the simulation of the kirtan of Hari by any one who chooses to disobey the Scriptures and the path followed by the godly, is obstructed, such a contingency cannot well be prevented. There is no scope for malice or contempt in the kirtan and preaching as recommended by the Guru and the Scriptures that has to be practiced by one who is to perform it. In His lila for the deliverance of the countries of the South, Shriman Mahaprabhu undoubtedly displayed infinite mercy towards the upholders of the opinions of the different schools of those places by exposing the defects of all mischievous speculations and breaking them to pieces. In the language of Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita (Madhya-lila, 9.42–44) —

tarkika-mimamsaka, yata mayavadi-gana
sankhya, patanjala, smriti, purana, agama

nija-nija-shastrodgrahe sabai prachanda
sarva mata dushi’ prabhu kare khanda khanda

sarvatra sthapaya prabhu vaishnava-siddhante
prabhura siddhanta keha na pare khandite

“Casuists, interpretationists, illusionists,
The followers of Sankhya, Patanjala, Smriti, Puram, Tantra —
All were violently bent on upholding their own opinions;
But the Lord exposing the defects of all opinions, broke them to pieces;
And on every point the Lord established the Vaishnava truth;
No one could upset the conclusions declared by the Lord.”

The Scriptures forbid all conversation with God-less Buddhists. Shriman Mahaprabhu, pitying even them out of regard for the spiritual nature of the jiva, did great good by crushing their pride. In the words of the same high authority quoted above (Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 9.46 и 9.48) —

pashandi aila yata panditya shuniya
garva kari’ aila sange shishya-gana lana

yadyapi asambhashya bauddha ayukta dekhite
tathapi balila prabhu garva khandaite

“Bands of atheists turned up hearing of His learning;
Proudly they came waited upon by their disciples;
And although Buddhists are not to be spoken to, unfit to be seen,
Yet the Lord held discourse with them to destroy their pride.”

These are very good examples of the proper performance of the duty of truly honoring others. Such conduct does not in the least infringe the sphere of the duty of humility greater than that of the blade of grass, although even such careless kindness failed to dissuade those atheists from the course that was congenial to their nature. But just as in their case the hostile endeavors of those atheists only served to being down punishment on their guru without in the least affecting Mahaprabhu, so also at this present juncture by similar ungodly efforts similar ruin of the impious guru is bound to be the result and they will not touch those jivas who seek a refuge at the feet of Mahaprabhu.
This is the irresistible law of the lila of Mahaprabhu as devotee. To preach the unalloyed kirtan of Hari by practicing the same oneself is the only eternal function of the servant of the Guru. By its means the object of philanthropy and those of the well-being of oneself are simultaneously realised. This unalloyed kirtan of Hari alone is the highest of all spiritual endeavors: its essence is supremely beneficial to the bound jiva and is alone capable of resuscitating the faculty of the soul.
Shri Gaursundar, who is identical with the Darling Son of the Lord of Braja, arraying Himself in the attire of the devotee, by His own practice and preaching, perfected the practice and preaching of His devotees. When He was approached by Sarbabhauma with a request for imparting spiritual enlightenment to Maharaj Prataparudra, the powerful and independent potentate of the countries of Utkal and Madras, He severely put down the proposal with the emphatic observation —

nishkinchanasya bhagavad-bhajanonmukasya
param param jigamishor bhava-sagarasya
sandarshanam vishayinam atha yoshitam cha
ha hanta hanta visha-bhakshanato ’py asadhu

“To one who wants nothing for his own selfish enjoyment, who is prepared to serve God,
And is desirous of gaining the bounding shore of the ocean of the world,
The sight of worldly people and of women
Is worse, alas! even than the swallowing of poison”

(Shri Chaitanya-chandrodaya-nataka, 8.27).

He further warned the proposer that, “He must never again utter such request. If he did so again, he would not find Him there” (Shri Chaitanya-charitamrita, Madhya-lila, 11.12):

aichhe bata punarapi mukhe na anibe
kaha yadi, tabe amaya etha na dekhibe

Once again when the same Prataparudra, having provided for the necessaries of Rai Ramananda and, on the occasion of Panda Vijaya (the ceremony of leaving the Temple by the holy Images at the Car Festival of Jagannath), “Sweeping the path with a golden broom in his hand, and moistening the path with sandal-water”, by thus serving God and His devotee, gave a clear proof of his spiritual nature, he obtained at once the feet of Shriman Mahaprabhu and also a glimpse of his six-armed Form. Shriman Mahaprabhu out of the fullness of his mercy ignored without ado the adventitious adjunct, in the shape of the garb of king, of Prataparudra, and could not but honor his spiritual nature employed in the service of God and His devotee.
The performance of kirtan of Hari free from offence in obedience to God, the spiritual preceptor and the Vaishnavas is alone for the jiva the highest form of spiritual endeavor or the essence of all such effort. Where-so-ever are found — the want of such submission, the invocation of a string of words concocted by the mind in place of the supreme formula of the Name of Shri Hari which is the medicine for the malady of worldliness prescribed by Shriman Mahaprabhu, the ascription of caste to, disrespect for, or seriously offensive conduct towards the Guru and the community of the Vaishnavas, deliberately cherishing sinful inclinations relying on the power of the Holy Name to free from sin, accumulating luxuries for the purpose of one’s own sensuous gratifications by means of the Holy Name, the holy Image and the holy Bhagabat, or the manifestation of such offences as an endeavor to put down the great saints, — on all such occasions and on the spot, holding the offender to be related to him by the ties of the highest kinship, the servant of the Guru, out of respect for his spiritual nature, is compelled to act against the taste and nature, of his temporary bound state that happen to be opposed to the injunctions of the Scriptures, the Guru and the Vaishnavas. Such conduct on the part of the servant of the Guru appears unpleasant to the jiva in the bound state, but there is no other alternative. Conduct that is agreeable to the body and mind of the bound jivas serves only to prolong his state of bondage. In such circumstances there would appear to be no other method of destroying the evil mental tendencies of the bound jiva, than the performance of the unalloyed kirtan in the shape of preaching the messages of the Scriptures and of the pure devotees (viz. the six Gosvamins) fully practicing them oneself. There is no other weapon available to the servant of the Guru for cutting the tangled knot except the words of the Scriptures and of the Guru. Accordingly God Himself the Establisher of all religion, thus advised His beloved devotee, Uddhab, regarding the remedy — “The devotees will dissipate the evil mental tendencies of the bound jiva by their words.”²
The servant of the Guru has no other means except following in the foot-steps of Sriman Mahaprabhu and Prabhu Nityananda under the guidance of Shri Guru. He is unable to act in accordance with the tastes and nature of the bound jiva thereby disobeying the injunctions of the Guru and of the Scriptures. This constitutes his proper function of honoring others. In such conduct there is no deficiency of the quality of humility that is greater than that of a blade of grass. This is the humble submission of the servant of the servants of the Guru.

The author is unknown

Notes:

1. “One who is humbler than a blade of grass, more forbearing than a tree who gives due honour to others without desiring it for himself is qualified to always chant the Holy Name of Krishna.”

2. Santa evasya chhindanti mano-vyasangam uktibhih (Shrimad-Bhagabat, 11.26.26).

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